Dementia is a group of disorders characterized by loss of integrated central nervous system functions, resulting in a diminished ability to understand concepts or instructions, to store and retrieve information into memory, and in behavioral and personality changes.
A reduction in memory and cognitive function is considered to be a normal consequence of aging in humans. Age-related cognitive decline is a term used to describe objective memory decline in the elderly who have cognitive functioning that is normal relative to their age peers. Age-related cognitive decline is different from Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) that is more severe or consistent, and may indicate the early stages of a condition such as dementia (APA Presidential Task Force on the Assessment of Age-Consistent Memory Decline and Dementia, February 1998).
The most prevalent forms of dementia in the United States are Alzheimer's Disease (40 to 60% of diagnoses); Vascular Dementia (10 to 20% of all diagnoses); Mixed Dementia (10% of all diagnoses); Dementia with Lewy Bodies (10% of all diagnoses). Secondary dementias caused by drugs, delirium, or depression represent 5% or less of all dementia diagnoses in the United States. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is classified as dementia with neurodegeneration, and is prevalent worldwide. Senile dementia itself refers to all dementia in the population age 65 and over and includes AD.
One of the challenges among all forms of dementia is the ability of self care. Even with regular support of a family member/caregiver, nutritional homeostasis is difficult to maintain. Providing adequate nutrition to these subjects is especially challenging by the very nature of typical manifestations, namely: loss of appetite, lack of recognition of food preparations, confusion about appropriate quantities of food intake, loss of smell, forgetting to eat, and difficulty with following cooking/preparation/eating directions.
There is a need in the art for nutritional products and nutritional plans that can help maintain nutritional homeostasis in dementia subjects while minimizing requirement for living assistance.